Samuel Adams Triple Bock | Boston Beer Company (Samuel Adams)

0 characters.
We love reviews! Turn your rating into one with ≥ 150 characters. Awesome. Thanks for the review!

In English, explain why you're giving this rating. Your review must discuss the beer's attributes (look, smell, taste, feel) and your overall impression in order to indicate that you have legitimately tried the beer. Nonconstructive reviews may be removed without notice and action may be taken on your account.

Notes / Commercial Description:
Though the little cobalt bottles still decorate the shelves today, this beer only had 3 vintage releases; 1994, 1995, and 1997. Brewed with two row malted barley, water, Noble hops and yeast, along with maple syrup, it was then aged several months in oak whiskey barrels before being bottled. At the time it was considered the world's strongest beer, and a precursor of today's Extreme Beers.

Appearance: Well the cork died a long time ago. Other than that, pours flat, deep dark black/brown. No head, syrupy. Basically what I'd expect.

Smell: Maple and strong dark malt is definitely there, but there's an offputting metallic note too that I have no idea where it came from. Dark fruits, port type stuff going on. Was honestly expecting a LOT worse.

Taste: Lots of dark fruits, chocolate, with a bready note on the finish. Maple is here too. The dark fruits make it almost tart, again reminds me of port, or a really fruity pure dark chocolate. Not getting any of the dreaded soy sauce notes. Can definitely see how this was a precursor to the Utopias.

Mouthfeel: Syrupy thick, no carbonation of course. Decently long linger.

Overall: Honestly? I was expecting the worst. The cork and the metallic note is really all I've got to say bad about this. Everything else is pretty much par for the course for the style. Giving it extra points on this mark for confounding expectations.

I wasn't going to do a formal review on this one, but how can I not, right? This is to celebrate a very successful fantasy campaign. Champion in 2 leagues and runner-up in the other. Cheers!

Meanwhile, I don't know how old this one is, but I guess it must be at least 18 years old. Cork broke as I twisted it open, so I needed to break out the corkscrew. The cork did not smell unpleasant.

A - On the pour it came out like non-viscous maple syrup, and that's pretty much the way it looks in the glass. It's a very deep, dark brown, with some not attractive redness when held up to the light. No head whatsoever. A drop dripped onto my hand at the end of the pour, and it stuck there like the aforementioned syrup.

N - This is extremely aromatic. Lots and lots of barrel (bourbon and brandy? bourbon and rye? Brandy and rye?) and plenty of bready malt. It's very sweet, and it's attacking my senses. If I hold it up to my face too long my eyes start to hurt. I guess it's time to dig in, right?

T - Wow, this is unbelievable. Not good or bad, just, maybe, the most complex thing, beer or otherwise, that I've ever tasted. I admit that I coughed after the first swallow, which was just a tiny sip. The heavy hitter here is licorice, an absolute blast of the stuff up front. You know that feeling in the back of your mouth/throat that you get when you taste something you don't really like, and you have a little trouble breathing, as if your throat is saying "please, no more?" Well, I'm getting some of that. This is probably a little too old to really enjoy, because I'm detecting a bit of sourness. Now I'm tasting lots of fruit, like Maraschino cherries, dried figs, and dates. I guess I kinda see what folks are saying about soy sauce, but I don't really taste it. It's just very, very sweet, and the sweetness is really lingering on the tip of my tongue. This is really not bad at all. Doesn't taste like beer, though, more like brandy.

M - Yeah, again like thin maple syrup. Nothing doing here at all. It's somewhat thick and oily, with no carbonation whatsoever. I guess that's what they were going for, though.

O - I'm SO glad I decided to buy this and try it. I admit I was scared, but this was quite the interesting experience. Not at all a bad beer, and not at all worthy of the reputation.

**
12/11/2015
Thank you Dave for sharing this rare keeper. 1995 bottle to glass. Cheers to 20 years. Look is purplish brown, no head, no fizz at all. Aroma is salt, soy sauce, dark fruit; alcohol is prevalent. Taste is plum, syrup, leather, raisin, dark rum. Very complex, this has held up very well. Read lots of mixed reviews and I’m sure some is due to taste, but the aging probably has a lot to do with the quality. Feel is un-beer like, syrupy, like a rum or brandy. This has been an interesting experience."
**

Corked, capped and wrapped 330mL cobalt bottle that my brother has saved since the first release in April 1994. This bottle is old enough to legally consume the alcohol it holds! Served in a in a chalice.

Pours a muddy mahogany with no head and a generous dose of dull turbidity. A swirl produces some nice boozey legs on the sides. No lace.

Holy crap. This tastes and drinks much more like a tawny port than beer. Decadent flavors of toffee, concentrated dark fruit, leather, dark cherries, maple syrup, raisins, molasses and earrhy oak. Every now and then a nip of booze peeks through to remind us that this is a sipper. Just fantastic depth to this.

Heavy, sludgy (in the best possible way) body with absolutely no carbonation. The syrupy goodness coats the tongue for a lingering, candy sweet finish of port, maple, toffee and earthy, leathery oak.

My experience with Samuel Adams Triple Bock was amazing. I feel quite fortunate to have the opportunity to drink from a well-aged bottle of the very first extreme beer's maiden release. This feels like some bizarre validation of my high-abv cellar dwellers.

Rich smelling and tasting, lots of dark fruit with hints of chocolate. Had 1994. Couldn't drink a whole one but then again that's not the point. Guessing the bad reviews are from people who had badly aged ones.

Taste: Similar to the smell - plums/prunes, raisins, char, ash; very sweet but also has an umami-like quality similar to soy sauce.

Feel: Sticky, thick and syrupy with no effervescence whatsoever. A sip coats the mouth and lingers long afterwards.

Overall: This was the 1995 vintage so that makes it 20 years old as of this tasting. While this wasn't a great beer, it really wasn't too bad considering the notoriety and age. The cork self destructed when I attempted to remove it but honestly that really didn't bother me too much and I considered it part of the experience. Truthfully, this beer probably sucks but I was really glad to have the chance to try it and I get a great story out of it so I'm going to recommend it but it would probably be best shared with a larger group of people.